Author: Cecil Victor
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: November 10, 2000
The threat by militant
groups in Jammu and Kashmir to use surface-to-air missiles (SAM) to shoot
down Indian aircraft should invite immediate and massive response from
the Government of India if it is not to be perceived to be indifferent
to territorial integrity and sovereignty.
The response cannot and
should not be confined to this side of the Line of Control if it is to
be effective in countering what will, in effect, be an escalation in the
undeclared war that has been waged by Pakistan over the past decade to
try and wrest Jammu and Kashmir from India.
General Pervez Musharraf's
recent declaration that Pakistan's nuclear capability will be deterrent
to any nuclear or conventional threat to Pakistan's territorial integrity
clearly underscores a doctrine of forward deployment under the cover of
nuclear capability.
India's self-imposed
restraint in handling the undeclared war in Jammu and Kashmir has apparently
emboldened the military dictator to escalate it by introducing new and
heavier caliber weaponry in what began as an insurgency by 'Kashmiris'
but which was nothing but a camouflage for the use of regular Pakistan
Army personnel as was in the Kargil misadventure.
The threat by the Pakistan
ISI-trained and supported militant groups to use surface-to-air missiles
is of special significance because the type of missile that is intended
to be used is not something that can be assembled in the makeshift smithy
of a guerrilla warfare outfit. The sensors and optics required for
the missile to acquire and attack a fast-moving aircraft cannot be fabricated
in the jungles and hideouts in Jammu and Kashmir.
Going by the Afghanistan
and the Kargil experiences these missiles are either the Stinger or the
Anza which the Afghan mujahideen used against the Soviet helicopter gunships
to good effect. At least one Stinger missile was seized from the
Northern Light Infantry troops who intruded into Kargil in 1999.
A Stinger missile in
the possession of the Pakistan Army opens up a sordid tale of geopolitical
perfidy. The missiles were supplied by the US CIA to the Pakistan
Army for distribution among the Afghan mujahideen for use against the forces
of the former Soviet Union. After the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan,
the US tried to collect the remaining Stingers from the mujahideen and
from the Pakistan Army and offered huge awards for each Stinger returned.
Very few, if any, were
returned. The seizure of one in Kargil indicates that the Pakistan
Army has diverted the missiles, along with huge quantities of other US
supplied weaponry for use against India both in its 'proxy war' as well
as by its regular troops deployed along the Line of Control in Jammu and
Kashmir.
It is suspected that
Flight-Lt Nachiketa's MiG aircraft was shot down with a Stinger missile
during the Kargil war. Whether it was fired by troops of the Northern
Light Infantry from positions inside the Kargil-Dras salient or Nachiketa
was the victim of a SAM trap placed close to the LoC.
That the Stingers were
deployed in Kargil nearly 15 years after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan
raises questions about the life of the battery that provides the ignition
to the missile. There is one school of thought that insists that
the batteries should have deteriorated by now. If that is the case,
then the weapon used against Nachiketa's aircraft had a more recent supply
of batteries.
Where did Pakistan get
the batteries? Did the CIA make a fresh supply or were these obtained from
the Chinese? China, as some reports published some years ago say, bought
the Stinger technology from the CIA and are now producing replicas of their
own.
The Chinese role in arming
Pakistan with missiles of all kinds is well documented. Whether the
so-called 'mujahids' operating in Jammu and Kashmir have now acquired either
the CIA-supplied weapon or the China- produced Stinger has far-reaching
consequences for the subcontinent.
For one, the undeclared
war by Pakistan is entering a new phase. The Chief Minister of Arunachal
Pradesh has spoken of the Chinese personnel intruding across the Line of
Actual Control in his State. Defence Minister George Fernandes, who
visited Arunachal Pradesh specifically to ascertain the facts, has said
that there is no evidence to show that the Chinese have intruded.
In any event the Chief
Minister's assertion will tend to create hesitation on the part of India
to transfer well- acclimatised troops from the eastern sector to the western
sector if the need arises.
In case the so-called
'mujahids' do happen to target Indian Air Force aircraft in Jammu and Kashmir
the Government of India cannot afford to treat the development lightly
and its reaction will have to be more proactive than it has hitherto been.
(Asia Defence News International)
